BP incapable of making this right

BP is using the phrase "make this right" in an advertising campaign that claims the oil giant will clean up the Gulf of Mexico and restore life as it was before the accident.

Of course, that is a ridiculous and manipulative claim -- a marketing ploy that creates the illusion that BP has the power to perform miracles. At best, BP can attempt to clean up their mess in a way that could limit further losses. But that, of course, doesn't sound as good as "making this right." Doesn't do much for the company's image.

There is no making it right. BP can't bring back those who died on the company's exploding rig, restore the wildlife that has perished in the thick oil or resurrect the suicide victims who couldn't endure yet another setback in their lives. BP can't even bring back the loss businesses or jobs. The way of life along the Gulf Coast has been altered for years, maybe decades. BP would have to turn back time in order to make things right.

BP and other oil and gas companies have a gun to our heads. They provide jobs and energy. They are also destroying our planet. Watch the documentary "Gasland" if you believe that natural gas is a clean alternative to oil. The process of extracting natural gas is profoundly polluting waterways in at least 30 states, literally in our own backyards.

Oil and gas companies aren't in the business of making things right. They are about making money -- lots of money. Until obscene profit is removed from the energy equation, it's more than likely that human beings will move closer and closer to extinction.

"If we go on the way we have, the fault is our greed and if we are not willing to change, we will disappear from the face of the globe, to be replaced by the insect. "
- Jacques Cousteau